Unfortunately, the startling Washington Post story, titled “What Were Those Mysterious Craft?”, was published decades ago, on January 19, 1979. Based on declassified U.S. government documents, the objectively-written article by Ward Sinclair and Art Harris—appearing on Page A1—provided a tantalizing peek at long-suppressed information having national security implications.

The Washington Post, whose Woodward-Bernstein reporting team toppled the Nixon presidency with its Watergate coverage in the early 1970s, was sent a press release about the UFO-related event two weeks ago. So, who did this iconic newspaper decide to send to the press conference? Why, the in-house jester, Metro columnist John Kelly, who has written about such lofty subjects as horse masseurs, failed sitcoms, and the Oldest Ham in the World. His article began:

“The cookies they serve at press conferences at the National Press Club are the same as the cookies we have in meetings here at The Post. I happen to like these cookies, and so as I cabbed it to the press club Monday I told myself that if the next couple of hours turned out to be a complete bust—if I remained unconvinced by the presentation on how UFOs have been systematically hovering over our country's nuclear missiles and occasionally disabling them, perhaps as a warning to humankind, perhaps as part of some sort of intergalactic anthropology project—I would at least be able to cadge some tasty baked goods.”

Mind you, the press release I sent out stated that all of the participants at the press conference—most of whom had been vetted by the U.S. Air Force to launch or otherwise work with Weapons of Mass Destruction—would be discussing ongoing UFO incursions at nuclear missile sites or nuclear Weapons Storage Areas (WSAs). According to some of the witnesses, including the event’s co-sponsor, former USAF Captain Robert Salas, on more than one occasion the missiles mysteriously malfunctioned just as security guards were reporting a disc-shaped object silently hovering over them. How such dramatic testimony from six former USAF officers and one former enlisted man could possibly turn out to be a “complete bust” is rather puzzling unless, perhaps, one’s mind was resolutely focused on the aforementioned baked goods.

Let’s see, UFOs hovering over our nuclear weapons sites. Hmmmmm, sounds familiar. Oh yeah, that was the essence of the story the Post ran in 1979, which said, “During two weeks in 1975, a string of U.S. supersensitive missile launch sites and bomber bases were visited by unidentified, low-flying and elusive objects, according to Defense Department reports.” The article went on to report that the unknown aerial craft had been described by eyewitnesses as “brightly-lighted, fast moving vehicles that hovered over nuclear weapons storage areas and evaded all pursuit efforts.”

Ironically, one of the declassified documents featured in the press kit handed out to every journalist at the press conference last week was the very U.S. Air Force report that led to the Post’s 1979 story. Presumably, John Kelly had one of those sitting on his lap during the event. I wonder if he ever thumbed through that, what with that tempting table of cookies located just feet away, vying for his attention.

Regardless, the report in question—released via Freedom of Information Act in 1977—contained numerous NORAD log excerpts that detailed repeated over-flights of ICBM sites at Malmstrom AFB, Montana , by “disc” shaped aerial craft, in early November 1975. The unknown objects were independently observed by several, widely-separated Air Force Security Police teams, tracked on radar, and chased—unsuccessfully—by jet fighters sent up to intercept them.

If this case were not dramatic enough, my own interviews with more than 120 ex-U.S. military personnel over the past 37 years confirm that such incidents occurred, repeatedly, at virtually every nuclear missile base in the country—not to mention a number of strategic bomber bases and nuclear weapons test areas—during the Cold War era and beyond. Most of those interviews may be found in my 600-page book UFOs and Nukes: Extraordinary Encounters at Nuclear Weapons Sites, which is available at my website, www.ufohastings.com.

During last week’s press conference I was confident that these amazing incidents—as revealed by a small cross-section of the ex-USAF witnesses who had experienced them—would startle at least some of the reporters in attendance. I also understood that CNN’s live feed of the proceedings would exponentially increase the number of journalists exposed to the data, thereby significantly enhancing the potential for additional coverage on a global scale.

Apparently my optimism was justified: I am pleased to report that the media as a whole—both in the U.S. and around the world—covered the former officers’ statements and declassified documents’ contents objectively and in detail. Indeed, the response to the event at the National Press Club—both published and broadcast—has been nothing short of explosive, resulting in hundreds of articles and news stories, as one will quickly learn by googling the topic. One especially accurate and insightful article, published by CBS News, may be read at

But will all of this attention be just another flash in the pan? Will the story—of UFOs disabling our nukes—die a quick death as journalists move on to other breaking news? Perhaps this is inevitable. And yet, I sense that a corner may have been turned. If the media will follow-up on its initial, generally-unbiased coverage, then sixty years of governmental secrecy about UFOs might be seriously threatened for the very first time. We’ll see. Regardless, I do know one thing: There is a Pulitzer Prize waiting for some courageous, determined reporter out there who is willing to ignore the ridicule of his/her colleagues, and the stonewalling by the powers-that-be, to pursue this monumental story to its logical conclusion.

When the Big News finally breaks—when some unimpeachable, high-level government insider finally admits on-the-record that UFOs are very real and that those who pilot them, although not from the neighborhood, are nevertheless interested in and probably concerned about our nuclear weapons—humanity’s future will take a dramatic new turn. Once that happens, and it will sooner or later, everything we humans thought we knew about reality will be up for grabs.

But some reporters and columnists will never “get it” until that day arrives. Oh well, at least The Washington Post sent a warm and presumably well-fed body to the press conference. The New York Times, on the other hand, uh, geez, don’t get me started.

2 comments
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This was a wonderful video of the conference that had Mr Hastings with the retired Air Force personal speaking.First time I heard it.Now with this I this I think was shown on TV why in the HECK doesn't our government tell the truth. CIA says we would all panic I don't think so.Thank Goodness for our retired military men coming forth and Mr Hastings. Wow Great.

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